S M I L E
by b a y o - b a y o
Summary: Smiles open many doors. His opened the door to her heart. HitsuxHina


**B A Y O – B A Y O:**

I know A LOT of you folks out there love Hitsugaya x Hinamori (I'm a little 'eh' with it), so I decided to write a one shot about them. It started out as a drabble but elevated into a story. Hope you all like it!

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**S M I L E  
****( **hitsu xx hina **)  
**"_can i ask you something?"  
_"_what is it?"  
_"_when you look at me, what do you see?"_

--

_Bleach_ © Kubo Tite

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**S**_miles open many doors, I've heard._

She loved everything about him.

"Hitsugaya-kun, are you busy right now?"

Especially the way his nose scrunched and his brows furrowed when he was being bothered—and even more so when it was done _on purpose_. It reminded her of the old times—the times when they had been immature, name-calling kids living with their granny. She knew everything about him, from his favorite color to his height to the centimeter (to which she would grin in amusement when he blushed with embarrassment after another measuring of his childlike stature) and to his least favorite candy bar. Vice versa, he knew everything about her. How did she know?

"Does it _look_ like I'm busy, Hinamori?" the captain seethed, obviously irritated. The scowl on his face deepened when his eyes caught sight of her satisfied smile. "And it's Hitsugaya_-taichou_. How many times to I have to repeat myself?! Now go eat or a peach or something or I'll stuff plums down your throat!"

Hinamori's grin stretched from ear to ear. She knew that he knew everything about her because he was the only one that knew that she hated plums. Of course she'd like peaches—look at her name. But nobody's ever known that she hated those nasty plums with a hideous hate. She loved that about him: that he knew everything about her. And she loved the fact that everything about _him_ was stored in _her_ brain. That made her feel like she was above any of the other girls who worked in Gotei 13—that she was above any of the other Shinigami who thought they had a perfect understanding of who he was.

"You're always so busy, Hitsugaya-kun," the girl whined, falling to her knees beside the prodigy. With bored cocoa eyes she watched his slender fingers scribble in perfect penmanship onto the documents. "Don't you ever miss being around me? I miss you a lot!"

Just upon first glance, one would think he was a narcissist—an anti-social jerk who didn't want anything to do with the world. Upon first glance, Hinamori instantly fell in love with his hair and the adorable frown he never failed to have plastered on his face. When they lived with each other in Rukongai, he was like the little brother she never had. They played together, made fun of each other, protected each other—just like siblings.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes in accordance to what Hinamori predicted he was going to do. "My ears start hurting—like now—when I'm around you too long."

Hinamori simply pouted.

He will _always_ be like a little brother to her, she thought.

That all changed when she met him again after becoming a Shinigami. He was, at first, just a subordinate Shinigami—she was the same.

Upon seeing him, Hinamori (in her bubbly fashion) trotted to him in surprised excitement—and successfully managed to make a perfect face plant on the marble streets of Seireitei over a tiny crack in the ground.

Everyone else laughed while she blushed like an idiot on the ground. When she looked up, she saw Hitsugaya's hand stretched out to her.

"_You finally became a Shinigami, Shiro-chan!" _she had squealed, latching onto her best friend.

"_You haven't matured one bit!" _shouted the boy as he pried her frail arms from him._ "And that's Hitsugaya to you, Hinamori."_

And Hitsugaya Toushirou was _smiling_.

That was when Hinamori Momo knew she had fallen in love.

Never in her life had she seen such a beautiful, genuine, _gorgeous_ smile. She'd seen him smirk before—oh, was she used to _that_—but never, even since her Rukongai days, had she seen him crack a grin. Immediately all romantic thoughts about Aizen had vanished and were replaced by an elevated love for the person she'd only thought of as a brother. Now he was a bachelor.

Years had passed. Decades had passed. _Centuries._

He was now known as the child prodigy that now governed Division 10. She was now known as a master of kidou and the fukutaichou of Division 5. He had accomplished so much. He went from being shunned, ignored, discriminated, and made fun of to respected, admired, and loved by those around him. That icy demeanor that shrouded him in the Rukongai days melted just a little, and she was able to see his face light up with pride every time his subordinates were praising him.

But never again did she see him with that beautiful smile.

Hinamori never did have the right amount of courage to tell him how she felt. She didn't know how to put it in words. She had it well in her mind—she loved him—but why was it so hard to say it to his face? Writing it would be cowardly and calling him would be stupid—so say it, she would. But Hitsugaya had been her best friend since day one—how could she say such risky words to him? What if he didn't return the feelings? What if he didn't feel about her the same way she felt about him? Their relationship would grow awkward and then they would slowly grow apart.

She had spent nights thinking about that and had decided not to risk it. She'd rather have a strong, best friend relationship with him than no relationship at all.

So for the first time in a very, very long time, she gave up.

She had tried to abandon her feelings.

More years had passed. The Winter War was over and Aizen had been defeated; Hitsugaya had promised to kill Aizen, and that's what he did. He was a true hero—a reverend among Shinigami. Decades later, he had finally grown. They both had. No longer a little boy of little stature anymore, Hitsugaya had grown to be nearly taller than his vice-captain, inching towards the height of Kotetsu Isane. Took him long enough, she thought. Hinamori had only grown about seven inches and was now finally able to look up at Hitsugaya.

And undoubtedly, he became the top bachelor for the female Shinigami of Gotei 13.

Despite her decisions, Hinamori couldn't help but feel slight contempt when women would slyly flirt with Hitsugaya—she knew that he was probably the most oblivious when it came to women—and she was on the verge of committing murder when one even _dared_ to touch him.

From then on, she knew that she would never be able to stop loving him.

Many new attempts on confessing her love were wasted. It either started out with a stuttering frenzy, a mad blush, or a cowardly run. She just couldn't say those three words to him—just staring at him and those gorgeous eyes made her lose any trace of her love-confessing script that she had spent night after night memorizing.

If only he knew what kind of power he held over her.

Hinamori's eyes watched as paper after paper were tossed into a growing stack of signed documents. At least once every day, Hinamori would come to watch Hitsugaya do whatever he was doing in his office—which, most of the time, was paperwork. Every day she would ask him to hang out with her, like the old times. But each and every time the response was always the same: _"I'm too busy."_

'_Do you have any idea how hard this is for me?!' _she wanted to shout at him.

Finally she sucked in a deep breath, and took the first step.

"Hitsugaya-kun," she whispered, placing her hand on top of his writing hand. Instantly the paperwork stopped and teal green eyes were fixed on her, only to suddenly widen at the seriousness of her expression. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he asked with a hint of annoyance. "I told you I'm busy, Hinamori."

Here goes. He wouldn't be expecting this.

"When… when you look at me, what do you see?" she asked timidly, forcing back the blush that threatened to lodge in her cheeks. "Tell me the truth."

She was right. He _wasn't_ expecting this. "… What are you talking about?" he inquire, confused.

"I asked exactly what it sounded like," Hinamori stated. "C'mon, I want to know."

"Hmm," he mused, gazing (more like glaring, to her) at her face. He seemed to momentarily forget about his paperwork. "What do you see when you look at _me_?"

She blinked. "What?"

"You heard me," he said, the all-knowing smirk she was well acquainted with appearing on his handsome face. "Give me your answer first and I'll give you mine."

Hinamori stared at him a second longer before turning away in huff. "You're so unfair."

"It's a fair trade."

"Hmph." _'Always so logical…'_

That answer was very, very easy. She stared at the ground in thought, trying to sum up her dreamed script in shorter words, before her mouth blurted something without her even thinking. "My future."

She wanted to slap herself and melt in a corner. Even an idiot would have been able to recognize that as a confession.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Hinamori inwardly sighed, her hopes sinking. _'He's so quiet—I must have been rejected…'_ With a pain—stronger than any battle wound she had ever experienced—now throbbing in her heart, the girl spoke again. She had to blink back her tears as she got to her feet. "Hitsugaya-kun… I'll, uh…" When she made a move to leave, a larger hand clamped around her wrist, immobilizing her.

"You want to know what I see when I look at you?" he asked abruptly, interrupting her. That was a relief, considering she had no idea what she was going to say afterwards.

But then again, she almost didn't want to hear him go on. "… What?"

Teal green eyes turned to her, captivating her and freezing every blood vessel in her body. With a small yank on his part Hinamori found herself heart-throbbingly close to his face. Her eyes widened as the words left his lips with a peppermint scent:

"I see nothing else but _you_."

And then, she swore she was in heaven.

Hinamori thought she knew everything about him. But she was wrong.

She had no idea that his list of countless titles included being a great kisser.

She smiled through tears and returned the silent words that he had conveyed through his actions. Hitsugaya was, after all, a man who spoke with his motions. Every year, every minute, every _second_ she had spent thinking of ways to tell him what was on her heart was worth it.

When they pulled back, she finally saw it again after many, many years.

That gorgeous, heart-stopping smile.

"You know what?" he continued, the loving smile still on his face. With a slam of his palm on his desk the prodigy stood, leading Hinamori to the door with her fingers laced with his. He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Screw the paperwork."

Hinamori grinned ear-to-ear, stopping him short and claiming his smile once and for all with one of her own.

_**Y**__our smile opened the door to my heart._

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**A/N: **I used to be a hardcore Hinamori basher because of her obsession with Aizen (and trying to kill Hitsugaya!), but for some reason I found myself loving her. So I had to write something about her—and of course with my favorite character!

Just a little break from Furareta. The characters MIGHT be a little off and some parts of the story might not even make sense, but I'm writing this at midnight so spare me (for some reason I'm in my writing mood at night). Review if you like. :3

-- bayo – bayo, signing out!


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